


Iced Awareness

by Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Huddling For Warmth, Pre-Slash, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-30 23:49:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8554507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: Shaak Ti and Luminara Unduli go down on an icy planet and have to survive the cold and their injuries. It might just also open doors for the future.





	

Luminara kept her calm as she came conscious after what she hoped was a very brief black-out. The ship was in pieces around her, and escaping the debris both told her that she had injuries as well as being lucky in how the debris had landed. None of her major organs were damaged, and the bleeding was minimal, at least outwardly. Now was not the time to investigate the internal injuries, as her eyes swept the cockpit, or what was left of it, for her companion.

A patch of dusky red skin drew her eyes fully in, finding Shaak Ti pinned by a piece of the bulkhead. She moved to where she could visualize the entire piece, to wrap her Force around it and move it away, before Shaak groaned softly. 

"Wait, my friend," the elder Jedi said, fathoming Luminara's motive even as consciousness seemed to be slippery as a concept. "I believe it is keeping pressure on a wound. Let me focus."

"Of course, Shaak." Luminara did not like the sound of that. She was not as versed in the internal anatomy of a Togruta and knew there were several differences on where the organs sat. Still, Shaak was experienced, and lived hard. Surely between the two of them, they could manage to heal the damages and be able to survive until they were rescued.

"I have the bleeding controlled, Luminara," the elder Knight said, closing her eyes and turning her face just in case other debris fell when Luminara moved the sheet of metal. That proved to be a good idea, and Luminara had to fight not to wince when a small piece came down on her friend. Then she could see the dark stain in Shaak's robes as well as a dull glint of something in the wound causing the stain. She moved closer, kneeling beside her to be able to investigate more closely.

"Leave it for now," Shaak told her. "The remains of the ship are not stable, from the metal creaking I can hear. We need to get out, and find shelter."

"As you wish," Luminara said, rising to her feet unsteadily. "Can you stand or should I float you out?"

"The latter may be the best option," Shaak admitted, knowing the debris was perched perilously close to her liver. She was holding it in place by the Force, along with the blood vessels that had torn. With a reach of her own abilities, she lifted the aid kit and a survival pack, frowning as she knocked more debris skidding from where both had been. Luminara concentrated, and lifted. She would never, ever regret following the lectures that Master Dooku had recorded on telekinetic manipulation, as they allowed her to keep Shaak prone and lifted smoothly.

Getting out of the shattered vessel was more difficult, but the Mirialan was mindful of her injured friend, and went slowly, listening when Shaak gave her warning sounds about her footing. It was slow going, but eventually they were safely out of the ship and on solid ground.

"Now let's look at that injury," Luminara said, digging into her resolve so that Shaak would not argue. The Togruta closed her eyes.

"Get the bacta ready, and I will push it out. I am mindful of where my liver is, more than I think you can be with the cold already affecting your hands."

Luminara looked, and understood what Shaak meant; they were shaking, though she had not yet noted how cold it was. "Of course." She readied herself, then nodded once she had cut the robes away from the wound further. Shaak Ti closed her eyes, and used the Force to remove the piece of metal, too sharp and jagged for her to avoid more damage with how the flesh had closed around it, but the liver remained undamaged. She felt intensely nauseous, and turning that into the Force was only barely within her capabilities when she was struggling to stay conscious. 

Luminara, for her part, worked quickly to apply bacta after irrigating the wound with the antiseptic, then bandaged it and made certain the edges sealed on the blood-stained skin. While her blood ran darker than human, Togruta blood was darker yet, and she could not remember if there was a significant difference in arterial and venal blood for them, or how to tell them apart.

"Do you need the blood replacement?" she asked.

"Not yet, Luminara. We must get you out of this cold," Shaak answered. She cast her voice out, in a different register, and let the sounds guide her eyes as she surveyed their situation. She was using her serenity like a cloak, knowing that her injuries kept pushing the primal part of her brain toward letting her nature free. She got back a curious echo, but could not quite see it from her prone position. "I think there may be shelter in that direction, if you will help me rise."

Luminara shouldered the pack, after attaching the aid kit, and then did that, ignoring a flare of warmth and pain in her midsection. They were not yet safe, and Shaak was right; she needed to escape the cold soon. For all the elder Jedi was not complaining, she was at risk as well, given her injuries. At least it wasn't—

She could not help the short laugh that escaped her as her thoughts seemed to summon a few small flakes of snow.

"You were just thinking that it wasn't snowing, weren't you," Shaak said in amusement, as she steadied herself as best she could.

"Yes. Now we really must get into shelter," Luminara said, as they began trekking in the direction Shaak had decided on.

+++

The echo proved to be a shallow cave, but its mouth was fortunately out of the wind that was picking up as was the snow. Luminara was steadily more aware of the internal injuries as they made it inside, and she had to let Shaak support her down to the rocky floor. Nothing seemed to inhabit the cave by all of Shaak's senses, and Luminara trusted in that. After all, the elder Jedi was an accomplished huntress on her homeworld, a place she went back to on a regular basis to keep enhancing her skills. Few knew as much about survival in the Order as the Togruta.

"How badly injured are you, Luminara?" Shaak asked, rather than intrude in the woman's private space more than she already had.

"I may have internal bleeding," the Mirialan admitted. "I had hoped it was merely bruising."

"Hmm." Shaak reminded herself that not all species were as adept at knowing their physical selves well enough to diagnose accurately. There was also the fact that Luminara, like most Mirialans Shaak Ti had met, tended to put herself at a lower priority than those around her. She needed a healing trance, and so did Luminara, but only one of them could do it at a time. However, Shaak could tell that other than the one major injury, she was merely bruised throughout her body. "You will settle and go into trance then, Luminara," the elder Jedi decided. "I will set up the survival gear, and see to setting the distress beacon."

"I — " At the refined lift of the upper edge of a pale circle, Luminara subsided. Shaak was a senior Knight, rumored for possible selection as a Master any day now, and a good thirteen years older than herself besides that. She settled on the ground as best she could while Shaak began prepping the tent for better survival, and made herself embrace the Force's guidance into a trance, one that would let her body knit the damages done.

Shaak was pleased the younger woman hadn't argued, and saw to setting up the shelter inside the cave, so that it would block the opening. She then used the Force to levitate the other woman inside, brought the pack in with them, and set up the long-lasting, though short-reaching heat unit. That was not going to be enough to keep Luminara's body temperature where it needed to be, guiding Shaak to remove her outer robe and Luminara's top layers of garments. It amused her on an almost hysterical level that Luminara was one of the few women who possibly wore more clothing than their male counterparts. With the shelter sealed, Shaak laid along Luminara's body, settling the robe and the rest of the removed clothing over them as more protection to conserve heat. While her body temperature ran lower than a Mirialan's, it was enough of a help to give the younger woman's body more of a boost to avoid hypothermia.

Now, as she had set the beacon, she settled in to wait, her hearing tuned outward for danger.

+++

Coming conscious with only her thin undergarments between her a lot of skin was not something Luminara was accustomed to. She wasn't one for sharing her bed after tending physical inclinations, a trait she chose her partners for quite carefully. However, the moment after she thought that, she breathed in air that was far too cold for her liking, and realized what Shaak had done with gratitude. 

"I am awake."

"Good. We'll tend our needs, and then you can keep watch," Shaak said, glad she had placed Luminara's garments on the inner layer of their 'blankets'. The younger woman managed to get back into them with a little effort so they could both escape into the now bitter cold.

"Trust our luck to manage a crash landing on a planet's winter side," Luminara said, trying to find the humor in the situation. Shaak smiled, sliding her arm into one sleeve, rising and pulling the other one swiftly before belting it closed, something she rarely bothered with. 

"At least it was a landing that we could, mostly, walk away from," the elder woman said. She led the way out of the shelter, then sighed softly. Her instinct to block the opening had been good; the wind had shifted and there was a snow drift. It seemed to be a light enough drift, or this cave had an air current she had taken for granted, but it was one more annoyance. She slipped past the shelter's edge and used her lightsaber to poke through the drift, melting and cutting a small exit in the snow. Shaak then made her escape from the confines of the cave to go tend to her needs, glad to have the confirmation that her body was at least working correctly for those functions.

When she rejoined Luminara, she saw the brief trip into the cold without protective gear had taken a toll on the other woman. Without fuss, Shaak reached out and pulled Luminara in against her body, after opening the robe, to wrap its voluminous fabric around them both.

"I can make myself adjust," Luminara protested, as they settled close to the heat source. 

"Why bother, when it is expedient for me to share warmth with you and save ourselves both resources we are lacking in?" Shaak asked her. "Pull the pack closer?"

Luminara did so, using the Force, before realizing what was needed without Shaak having to say or use her own energies. Two packets of ration paste floated out, one for each of them, so they could eat. It was fluid enough to help slake thirst, though Shaak made a note to check the content of the snow for possibly drinking once it was melted, later. She felt… much weaker than she cared for, and knew she needed to spend her own time in trance.

"Will you rest now?" Luminara asked her.

"As long as you will promise to remain close, my friend. I do not wish to wake and find the tips of your fingers and nose turning that shade again."

For some odd reason, the concern in the light words made Luminara feel a different kind of warmth. It didn't help that she was all too aware of the spicy scent of the Togruta, and that her body was so close and quite pleasant to lean into.

"I will remain," she said, keeping such distractions out of her voice.

Shaak smiled where Luminara could not see, and then settled them both down to rest again, vaguely resenting that Luminara had kept her outer garments on.

+++

Coming alert to the feeling of another body alongside of hers while lying on a hard surface in a shelter, but not smelling the winds off the plains of Shili was odd for Shaak. It took her a moment to process, and then she was smiling. She felt much improved, though still aware of the injury, they had walked away from a very dangerous crash, and she had one of the more intriguing women of the Order here with her. 

She started to say something to gain Luminara's attention, when her small comm beeped from her robe pocket.

"I think they have found us," Luminara said, shifting away to make it easier for the elder woman to get at the device.

"This is Shaak Ti," the Togruta said, completely composed within her serenity, even as her eyes checked Luminara over for further sign of poor health or injury. 

"Master Ti, this is Trenz with the ExploriCorp. We are homing in on your signal with cold weather gear and medical assistance for retrieval. Is there anything critical with you or Master Unduli?"

"No, Scout Trenz. There is nothing critical. We will wait for your arrival to break our camp, though, due to the weather."

"Understood."

Shaak Ti put the comm away, then rose to straighten herself out. Luminara, likewise, made certain she was impeccable as ever. The two women's eyes met briefly, with Luminara flushing and looking down first.

"My friend?"

"It is nothing, Shaak," the younger woman said.

"Hmm." Shaak Ti reached out, hand touching the sleeve, not the person, in deference to personal boundaries. "If you ever wish to share my company, Luminara, we need not do so by crashing a ship so remotely."

Luminara's head came up, eyes going wide for just a moment before she had to smile, a quiet and sly look.

"I will keep that in mind, Shaak. Most certainly."

**Author's Note:**

> While I wish to explore this pairing more fully, I wanted to go ahead and share the idea and see what others thought.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Weathered Courtship](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11531790) by [Merfilly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly)




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